Janet and Bob Bischer, my parents, who very kindly bought their then-broke-ish daughter the laptop the first draft of this book was originally written on. I’m glad it churned out something more meaningful than salty Yankees tweets and cat-photo-centric Facebook posts.
Kenneth Wert, a genius plotter and the very first believer in this book, who, upon hearing the plot for it back in 2009 was like, “That’s going to get published!” It took longer than we thought, but it happened, and that confidence gave me confidence to keep going. Long live our “Newport Days”!
Micol Ostow and my fellow writers in her spring 2010 YA novel-writing workshop, where this story officially began on page. And the biggest of thanks to the critique group that grew out of that class—“The Rogues,” a wise, witty, incredibly talented group of writers who are essentially this book’s godmothers and have been there every step of this saga: Linda Blum, Joanne Donovan, Nancy Lambert, Danielle Rumore Lundquist, and Fiona Taylor.
Alyssa Reuben, whose insights helped the first draft become a solid foundation for what exists now.
My very first “readers”: Laura Carney, Rachel Chang, Aimee Leinhardt, and Courtney Pressler, whose requests to see my first draft made me feel like a “real” writer.
My friends and coworkers who have been have been stalwart champions of this book, my unofficial therapists when working through book-related challenges, and also so understanding when socializing has to take a backseat to writing/editing/rewriting: Erica Brown, Amy Dolan, Dexter Gasque, Claire Goncalves, Rana Meyer, Vicki Obe, Stephanie Sloane, and Tonya Trudo.
The Swoon Squad, who have been an absolutely vital source of useful information and support. I’m so glad we have each other!
And, finally, the Swoon Readers who vocalized their love for this book with votes or comments. This book doesn’t get to the point of needing an acknowledgements section without you, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to convey my thanks for that enough.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KAREN BISCHER has written short stories for Girls’ World and Animal Tales magazines and currently works as a copyeditor. She lives in her native New Jersey, where she has never encountered Bruce Springsteen in the wild, but does have a cat named after a member of the E Street Band. When she’s not writing, you can find her cheering on the Yankees or geeking out over her favorite TV shows. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 by Karen Bischer
A Swoon Reads Book
An imprint of Feiwel and Friends and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271
swoonreads.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020911197
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at [email protected].
First hardcover edition 2021
eBook edition 2021
eISBN 9781250242310
